Using Instagram for Business

May 31, 2016

In recent years, Instagram has demonstrated significant growth with over 400 million active users. The popular photo sharing social network has the potential to become a central visual content strategy for your brand. Instagram can be leveraged to build brand awareness and high-levels of engagement. Far exceeding the level of engagement businesses are seeing in Twitter or Facebook. Sharing quality photography is critical to success on Instagram. Here’s everything you need to know about using Instagram for business to make it part of your social media plan.

Instagram Adoption Instagram’s 400 million monthly active users have shared 40 billion photos according to recent Instagram stats. 80 million photos are shared daily on Instagram and 3.5 billion likes are given out daily.

Who Uses InstagramInstagram is used most by young adults. Users ages 65 and up represent the smallest percentage of the users. Here is the breakdown: 53 percent of Instagram users are between the ages of 18 and 29. 25 percent of users are between 30 and 49 years old. 11 percent are between the ages of 50 and 64, and the remaining six percent of users are 65 years and up.

Ways Businesses Are Using InstagramBusinesses are using the platform to educate customers about their products and grow brand awareness. They are also using Instagram to stay top of mind with customers and share corporate culture. Through Instagram, brands have the opportunity to hold themed photo contests to engage customers. You can then share customer stories using the user generated content (UGC) collected through these contests. Those are a few of the ways today’s businesses are using Instagram to promote their brand. A couple additional ways include giving their audience a behind-the-scenes look and producing live coverage of events.

How-to Curate User Generated ContentUsers create and share original content across Instagram. Take advantage of your opportunity to leverage this content by reposting this shared content to your brand’s account.The first step is toencourage customers to tag photos with your brand hashtags. Then, monitor brand hashtags for relevant stories. Feature customers’ photos using the Repost app and credit photo source by mentioning them @name in your photo caption.

Seven Traits Of A Good Instagram PostWant to get those hearts and comments rolling in on your posts? Create content that tells a visual story about your brand and grabs a user’s attention. Step up your Instagram game by including these essential traits in your shared content:

Emily holds a BFA in Design and Visual Communications from University of Arizona. She has worked with the Fandom Marketing team in San Diego to create social media graphics and content for a portfolio of brands.

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Brands With Fans is a social media marketing blog owned and operated by Fandom Marketing, a full service digital agency that's social. Get expert insights to integrate social marketing to your business and engage customers.